SPORTS TOURISMFENNIMOORE AMERARA DECKLES @ CHAMIT J

SBEP3672 TOURISM PLANNING 3

Introduction

“Sport tourism has been one of the fastest developing segments of a growing tourism industry, with sporting events comprising an important part of this growth” - (Ritchie et al., 2002).

“…specific travel outside the customer’s usual environment for either passive or active involvement in sport where sport is the prime motivational reason for travel.” – (World Tourism Organization, 2010).

DEFINITION: the use of sports as a vehicle for tourism endeavours.

Having made this determination, a broad definition for “sports” within sports tourism was given in terms of the “physical” aspect of running, jumping, walking, racing, throwing, shooting, hitting, and the like.

Types of Sports Tourism

“…sport tourism could be defined as ‘leisure-based travel that takes individuals temporarily outside of their home communities to participate in physical activities [Active Sport Tourism], to watch physical activities [Event Sport Tourism], or to venerate attractions associated with physical activities [Nostalgia Sport Tourism]” – H. Gibson (2003)

Three types of Sports Tourism

1) Active Sport Tourism

Involves people who are participating sports events

2) Event Sport Tourism

Involves spectators of sports events

3) Nostalgia Sport Tourism

involves traveling to famous sport-related attractions

Sports Consideration The degree to which resources have been utilized to stage the

activity within a positive sports environment:

i) have infrastructure and interstructure in place for non-regional residents

ii) provide amenities and services for tourists

iii) plan and market for purposes of attracting persons outside the region.

The degree of dependency on tourism by the sports organization for:

i) government grants/subsidies

ii) Sponsors

iii) tourism economic impact.

It should be noted that these factors would be considered when determining the existence of a “sports tourism activity”.

Categories of Sports Tourism Activities

Sports Tourism Events• World Cups• Regattas• Horse Racing• International

Marathons

Sports Tourism Attractions• Stadiums• Gymnastics

Displays• Theme Parks• Sports

Museum Hall of Fame

Sports Tourism Tours• Heritage Site

Tours• Mountain

Climbing Tours

• Adventure Expeditions

Sports Tourism Resorts• Fishing

resorts• Outfitters• Soccer

Schools• Training

Camps

Sports Tourism Cruises• Gold Cruises• Kayaking• Rowing• Yacht

Charters

CASE STUDY 1: NEW ZEALAND

More than 50% of past sports events in New Zealand were held in the four major regions of Auckland, Waikato, Canterbury and Otago, each creating economic benefits for the host city or community.

The New Zealand government considers sports events as an inbound tourist promotion tool and has sought to host some international sports events.

Four positively significant cases: the 1990 Commonwealth Games for total visitor arrivals, the 2000 America’s Cup and the 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour for participating countries’ visitor arrivals.

CASE STUDY 2: NEW YORK

In New York, baseball is still regarded as the most popular sport, despite being overtaken by football in terms of perceived popularity (but not attendance) throughout the country, as based on TV ratings and consistent fan following for the entire season.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is one of the country's most popular destinations and is surely the best-known sports shrine in the world. 

Sporting events draw tourists to major venues such as the Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Madison Square Garden, and to street events such as the New York City Marathon.

CONCLUSION

For some countries, sports tourism is seen as one of the fastest developing segments of a growing tourism industry, with sporting events comprising an important part of this growth.

Developing a strategic plan for identifying and securing support is among the first issues needed to be addressed, both for the organization and the events they will execute. While developing the strategic plan, the planning group should keep in mind that to sponsors the group and their events are communication vehicles for relaying a message. The message may be the relationships between the sponsor and their products and such things as community support, corporate citizenship, users of sponsor product, image, and exposure.